


A Spoonful of Sugar

by callmeonetrack



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 11:58:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9383933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmeonetrack/pseuds/callmeonetrack
Summary: Sometimes a spoonful of sugar or two is the best cure for what ails you.





	

Lee shifted, restless and adrift, on the thin sickbay mattress. He flicked a glance at the wall clock, which read 0300 and let his eyelids flutter shut. Sleep was pulling at him, but he knew if he gave in, one of the nurses would dart behind the curtain, poking and prodding and reprimanding him to stay awake. The doctor—a bit more of a fussbucket than Cottle--was worried he might have a concussion. But surely, a few minutes of shuteye, just a catnap really, wouldn’t be a problem…

He drifted off and was just slipping into a deeper REM state when Lee felt coolness on his brow. Fingers he thought, smoothing over his forehead and stroking through his hair briefly. He was reminded of his mother when he was very young, how she would bring him toast and tea when he stayed home sick from school. Lee shifted, angling toward the touch, but the pressure disappeared. And he slowly dragged his lids open, head still hazy, and half-expecting to see his mother standing at his bedside.

For a second, as his eyes caught on blonde hair receding towards the end of the bed, he thought it was her, but the figure shifted and recognition rushed to the surface. “Kara?”

She froze, looking stiff and discomfited in her uniform, staring with wide eyes and a hesitant look on her face. “Hi.” 

It had been weeks since he’d seen her last, and she’d been more than a little preoccupied with her “personal property” at the time.  Lee had left Galactica’s bunkroom with a sick churning in his stomach, never more glad that he had his own ship to return to. A ship full of people that needed him. The demands on a commanding officer were many and it had been easy to immerse himself in duty. He hadn’t thought about—hadn’t let himself think about—Kara in weeks. She was simply part of his former life now.

So the suckerpunch he got at seeing her face--drawn and pale--and hearing her voice--low and querulous—again was entirely unexpected. Instinctively his spine stiffened against the thin pillows, and his shoulders squared. “What are you doing here?”

Kara paused, her gaze flicking sideways towards the exit hatch momentarily, and she shifted, but stood her ground. “Heard about your crash landing.” She flashed a weak grin that didn’t reach her eyes. “Figured I shouldn’t miss the chance to see the mighty Apollo felled by the common cold.” 

He’d been so busy commanding the Pegasus that Lee hadn’t been taking care of himself all that well. He’d felt like hell when he woke up that morning, but it’d been so long since he’d flown, that he didn’t want to miss the small and infrequent window of opportunity he had to take his old plane out. So with an already woozy head, and obviously some impaired judgment, Lee had climbed into the cockpit anyway. All had been fine until he’d tried to land and his vision had spotted and only cleared when the deck was rushing up at him a bit quicker than expected. 

“I mean the least you could’ve done was blame it on a frakking gimbal.”  

Kara was joking, he knew that, but it didn’t stop the rush of embarrassment that bubbled up at her blithe comment and turned into a dull rage.  “Nice of you to take time out of your, no doubt, busy schedule to stop by.” The words were clipped and came out tinged more than a little bitter. “How’s Anders?”

Her eyes flashed at the tone, and gods how he’d missed seeing that look. “Fine. Great, in fact. How’s Dee?”

Was that a trace of bitterness he heard in her voice too? “Good. Great.”

“Great.” She mimicked the false cheer in his tone.

Silence fell awkwardly as they just stared at each other, discussion apparently exhausted with one banal exchange. It felt like some torturous drill Lee remembered from basic training of trying to cross a stretch of ground littered with fake landmines. No safe place to stand. Kara clearly felt the same, as she rolled her eyes suddenly and twisted towards the exit. “Yeah, well, this was… I should get going.” 

Swept with a sudden certainty that the sickbay curtain marked a point of no return, Lee called out. “Wait! What’s…what’s that?” He nodded to her left hand, curved around an object he couldn’t quite distinguish in the shadowed recesses of sickbay. 

She looked down, almost startled, and lifted her hand, which was clutching a tall paper cup. “Oh, it’s for you…” She handed it to him. “it’s tea.”

“Tea?” He peered down into the murky-looking cup, a dull heat seeping through his palm. 

Kara hesitated, her eyes lowered now. “When Zak was sick, he swore by it. Said your mom used to make it for him when he was a kid, and it was the only thing that could make him feel better.” Lee’s heart swelled suddenly at the gesture, but Kara shook her head. “I don’t know why I thought… It’s stupid.”  She reached forward, hand outstretched to take the cup back but Lee leaned back out of the way. 

“Hey, hey, no takebacks! You can’t take it back.” The words slipped out unbidden, followed by a wallop of déjà vu— _I’m your friend and I love you… Lee Adama loves me?_ —and he froze. Kara did too, but then suddenly she smiled—a real, full smile that lit up her whole face. 

Lee smiled back and something eased in his chest. He lifted the cup and sipped the lukewarm liquid. The tea was weak and loaded with sugar, at least twice the normal amount he’d take (Zak had always had a sweet tooth), but he drank it anyway, taking two big swallows before he set the cup down on the nearby tray. “Thank you. I feel better already.” Kara gave him a disbelieving look but she chuckled and he slid over and patted the edge of the bed. “Stay, please. Save me from another rousing hour of counting the cracks in the bulkhead to keep myself awake. Catch me up on what’s going on over at the Bucket.”

Kara sank down and they talked, starting with the other pilots and his father, and moving on to President Gaius Baltar’s— _and that never stopped sounding ridiculous,_ Lee thought—plan to settle on New Caprica.   
  
“I can’t believe how many of my crew are actually considering going down and settling on that mudball!” Lee complained.  “I’ve got a stack of requests to muster out about as thick as my wrist already.”

Kara shrugged. “We’ve been running a long time. People are excited. A new planet, no cylons.” She paused. “It could be a new start.”

There was something wistful in her voice that startled Lee. Worried him too. “Oh come on, Kara, not you too! What about Earth? What about those constellations, the map in Athena’s tomb? We’re just gonna give up hope that we’ll get there.”

Her face rippled, something dark and sad passing over her countenance. Kara didn’t answer for a few seconds then just shrugged again, her voice softer when she said, “Things change.”

Lee felt a coldness sink over him, a feeling he hadn’t had since the dark days after his rescue from the resurrection hub mission, and his head bowed. “Yeah, I guess they do.” 

A minute passed as he stared blankly at the worn coverlet of the bed, then Kara’s hand dropped over his own, her strong fingers wrapping around his palm and squeezing. He looked up, questioning eyes fixing on her steady gaze. “Not everything, though, Lee.”

They sat like that, in silence for a few minutes. Then Kara slid off the edge of the bed to her feet. “I gotta go, CAP soon.” Reluctantly Lee let go of her hand. “But hey, the next time you get the bright idea to go flying with a raging fever, don’t you dare go up without your wingman.”

“Yes, sir.” Lee grinned and saluted, but his eyes were serious. “I’ll make sure she’s on my six.” 

“Always, Apollo.” Kara winked and smirked. “And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to spread some choice rumors about Commander Adama’s _equipment failure_.” 

“KARA!”

But she ducked through the curtains and all he could hear was her laughter, bold and bright, as it echoed down the halls of the Pegasus sickbay. So Lee picked up his abandoned cup and drank the rest of the sugary liquid down. It was sludgy and beyond tepid, and he thought maybe it was just about the best thing he'd ever tasted.


End file.
